Mahabharata 7.32.27 — Drona Parva, Adhyaya 32, Shloka 27

Cakravyūha-saṃkalpaḥ, Saṃśaptaka-āhvānaṃ, Saubhadra-vikrīḍitam

Drona Parva, Adhyāya 32

Devanagari script

आसीतू्‌ केशपरामर्शों मुष्टियुद्धं च दारुणम्‌

Transliteration

āsīt keśaparāmarśo muṣṭiyuddhaṃ ca dāruṇam

Translation

സഞ്ജയൻ പറഞ്ഞു—അപ്പോൾ ഭീകരമായ കൈയാങ്കളി ഉണ്ടായി; മുടി പിടിച്ച് വലിച്ചിഴയ്ക്കലും, മുറുകിയ മുഷ്ടികളാൽ കടുത്ത അടിപിടിയും—കോപം സംയമത്തെ മറികടന്നതുപോലെ.

Word by Word

• आसीत्: was / occurred
• आसीत्: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: अस् (धातु)
• Form: लङ् (Imperfect), 3, Singular

• केश-परामर्शः: hair-pulling / seizing of hair
• केश-परामर्शः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: केश + परामर्श (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• मुष्टि-युद्धम्: fist-fight
• मुष्टि-युद्धम्: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: मुष्टि + युद्ध (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• दारुणम्: terrible / dreadful
• दारुणम्: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: दारुण (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how warfare can degrade into raw brutality when anger and desperation override discipline; it implicitly warns that even in a dharma-framed conflict, violence can slip beyond ethical restraint.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports that the fighters closed in at very short range, grappling by the hair and striking with fists—an intense, dreadful phase of close-quarters combat within the larger battle.